Temple of the Martyr Tatiana at Moscow State University

Temple in the 18th and 19th centuries

January 12, Memorial Day of the Roman Martyr Tatiana, 1755 Empress Elizaveta Petrovna signed a decree establishing Moscow University . Since the memory of the martyr Tatiana was celebrated on this day, her memorial day - Tatyana's day - subsequently became the birthday of the University, and later the universal student day.

The search for a house church for Moscow University began immediately after its opening. Apparently, for some time the university’s house church was the Kazan Cathedral in the 18th century opposite the university house on Red Square, where on the occasion of the inauguration of the university on April 26 ( May 7 ), 1755 , a solemn prayer service was held. In 1757, the director of the university, I. I. Melissino, turned to the Synod with a request to transfer to the university the Paraskeva Friday Church and the Resurrection Church on Okhotny Ryad. In 1784, the idea arose of building a university church on the site of the dilapidated church of Dionysius the Areopagite on Nikitskaya Street . The question of the construction of the temple was finally resolved after the start of construction of the main building of Moscow University on Mokhovaya ^[2] .

Church in the name of St. Martyr Tatiana ^[3] consecrated on April 5 ( 16 ), 1791 , Metropolitan Plato in the circular room of the left ^[4] wing of the university building ^[5] .

From the sermon of Metropolitan Plato at the consecration of the temple:

The school of sciences and the school of Christ began to be united: the worldly wisdom brought into the sanctuary of the Lord becomes sanctified; one contributes to the other, but one affirms the other.

In 1812, the temple burned down along with the main buildings of the University.

In September 1817, the upper church of the neighboring St. George Church on Krasnaya Gorka temporarily (until 1837) became a university house church ^[6] .

In 1833, the estate of D.I. and A.I. Pashkov was purchased for the University, located on the corner of Mokhovaya and Nikitskaya streets .

In 1833 - 1836, the architect E. D. Tyurin rebuilt the main manor house into the Auditorium (the so-called "new building" of the University), the left wing into the library, and the manege part, where the troupe of the burned Petrovsky Theater gave performances in 1805 - 1808. - to the university church.

On September 12, 1837, Metropolitan of Moscow Filaret consecrated the University’s house church; Archpriest Pyotr Matveyevich Ternovsky became the first rector of the house church.

In 1908, the building of the university church was restored, in 1913 a wooden four-pointed cross was erected on the temple, and the inscription "SVѢT CHRISTOV CONSCIENTS VSKHZh" was made on the pediment ^[7] .

According to the Charter of 1835, the rectors of the university church occupied a special department of theology at Moscow University, which was set outside the faculty structure (Archpriests P. M. Ternovsky , 1835-1858; N. A. Sergievsky , 1858-1892; N. A. Eleonsky , 1892-1909; N. I. Bogolyubsky , 1909-1918). At the end of February 1852, the funeral service of N.V. Gogol took place in the university church, the coffin with the body of which was carried by his friends, university professors. In early October 1855, T. N. Granovsky was buried here, in 1879 - S. M. Solovyov , in 1896 - A. G. Stoletova , in 1911 - V. O. Klyuchevsky and many other professors at Moscow University. Here, in 1892, the daughter of Professor I. V. Tsvetaeva , the future poetess Marina Tsvetaeva, was baptized ^[7] .

Temple Closure

January 1918 - By decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR, the Church was separated from the state and the school from the Church.

On August 10, 1918, a resolution of the People's Commissariat for the Elimination of House Churches at educational institutions was issued, after which the Tatyana Temple was closed.

In August 1918, the rector of the University was submitted an application from 175 parishioners “with a request to initiate an application for recognition of this temple by the parish church of the University District”.

July 8, 1919 issued a decree of the Council of People 's Commissars on the closure of the University Church.

On the night of July 17-18, 1919, the icon and letters of the inscription on the pediment of the building were removed.

July 24, 1919 - Items recognized as “having historical and artistic significance” were placed at the church’s altar , later transferred to the Museum Department of the People's Commissariat for Education. Icons and utensils that did not interest the Museum Department were transferred to the Church of St. George on Krasnaya Gorka .

On October 3, 1919, the community of the university parish was reckoned by decision of the Moscow Diocesan Council to the St. George Church on Krasnaya Gorka.

1919 - A reading room was set up in the church premises: bookcases of the law faculty were placed in the church. On the pediment of the building made a new inscription "Science - Workers" ^[8] .

1922 - On the fifth anniversary of the October Revolution, a student club was opened in the church building.

On May 6, 1958, actress Alexandra Aleksandrovna Yablochkina solemnly cut the ribbon and opened the Student Theater ^[9] in the church building, which continued to be here until January 22, 1995 .

The Return and Restoration of the Temple

On January 25, 1991, in the church building, Patriarch Alexy II served a prayer service with the Akathist Martyr Tatiana.

In the fall of 1992, MSU professor Grigory Aleksandrovich Lyubimov made a presentation at the presentation of the St. Tikhon Theological Institute with a proposal to recreate the house church of St. mts. Tatians.

On December 20, 1993, the Academic Council of Moscow State University decided “On the restoration of the architectural monument on the street. Herzen, d. 1, on the reconstruction in this building of the Orthodox home church of Moscow University and the placement in other premises of this building of the museum expositions of Moscow State University. ”

April 10, 1994 in the Kazan Cathedral the consecration of the icon of St. mts. Tatiana, which was later transferred to the University Temple.

On April 27, 1994, Patriarch Alexy II established the Patriarchal Compound in the Tatiana Church by Decree No. 1341.

May 1994 - January 1995: Confrontation between the church community and the Student Theater of Moscow State University. According to Hieromonk Simeon (Tomachinsky) : “In the process of opening the Tatiana Church and communicating with people, we realized how many Orthodox, church people are at Moscow State University, especially among our teachers and even among students. Orthodoxy now is a universally recognized, one might even say, fashionable trend, a kind of mainstream, and then openly calling oneself a believer was in a certain sense a challenge. But during the collection of signatures at various faculties, it turned out that such people are not so few ” ^[10] .

January 22, 1995 , the feast day of St. Philip's building was returned to the Church.

From the first month of the existence of the church of St. mchts. Tatyana’s orthodox student’s newspaper Tatyana’s Day begins to be published (since 2007 it has been published in electronic form - the website of Tatyana’s Day ).

On April 23, 1995, for the first time after a 77-year break, the Divine Liturgy was held in the upper church.

May 6, 1995, on the day of St. George the Victorious, a wooden cross was again erected on the church. On June 16, 1995, the first wedding took place (in the lower temple).

December 29, 1995 two particles of relics from the right hand of St. Tatiana, who rests in the Mikhailovsky Cathedral of the Holy Dormition Pskov-Pechersky Monastery , was brought to the University House Church: one particle was inserted into the icon of the holy martyr, and the other was placed in the ark.

In 1996, a particle of the relics of St. Filaret of Moscow was transferred to the church by students of the Moscow Theological Academy and the seminary who participated in the acquisition of these relics in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra .

In December 1997, the icon of the Mother of God “ Add Mind ” was donated to the church.

In 1998 , the Week of All Russian Saints , the exterior mosaic icon of the martyr Tatiana on the facade of the temple was consecrated.

On September 30, 1998, an agreement was signed, approved by Patriarch Alexy II, to transfer to the temple of the holy martyr Tatiana the iconostasis of the church of St. Seraphim of Sarov, brought to Moscow from New York by Protopresbyter Alexander Kiselyov .

In December 1998, the publishing activity of the temple began.

In 1999, at the altar of the church of St. mchts. Tatians set mosaic icon of the Resurrection of Christ.

On December 2, 2000, the lower church was consecrated in the basement in the name of St. Filaret, Metropolitan of Moscow and Kolomensky.

In 2000, a baptistery was built and consecrated in the basement of the temple to perform the Sacrament of Baptism over adults by complete immersion.

2000 - at the altar of the church of St. mchts. The Tatians set 4 mosaic icons: St. Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, John Chrysostom and Nicholas of Myra.

In 2001, the inscription established in 1913 was restored on the attic of the temple.

In 2001, in the upper church, in the name of St. mchts. Tatians, a five-story chandelier is installed.

In 2002, a cast bronze cross was restored in historical forms over the attic of the temple.

In 2002, on the eve of the Nativity of Christ, rector of Moscow State University. M.V. Lomonosov prof. V. A. Sadovnichy temple was presented with a valuable altar gospel, a guardian , a chalice and other decorations on the throne.

January 26, 2003 in the iconostasis of the temple established a new festive rank.

Current Situation

Now there is an upper church (consecrated in the name of St. Matthew Tatiana ) with an added throne and a lower church in the name of Metropolitan of Moscow and Kolomensky St. Filaret .

• 1812 Jonah

• 1858-1892 Nikolai Sergievsky
• 1892-1910? Archpriest Nicholas of Olives
• March 1911 -? Archpriest Nikolai Bogolyubsky

• 1994-2012 Archpriest Maxim Kozlov
• from September 2012 to the present Archpriest Vladimir Vigilyansky

• Sopova A.S. Temple of St. Tatiana: Shrines. Story. Modernity. - M .: Church of the Holy Martyr Tatiana at Moscow State University, 2010 .-- 336 p. - (The Light of Christ enlightens all). - 3,000 copies. - ISBN 978-5-901836-29-3 .
• Imperial Moscow University: 1755-1917: Encyclopedic Dictionary / Andreev A. Yu., Tsygankov D. A. .. - M .: Russian Political Encyclopedia (ROSSPEN), 2010. - 894 p. - 2,000 copies. - ISBN 978-5-8243-1429-8 .

• "Tatyana's Day" - an online edition of the house church of St. mts. Tatians at Moscow State University